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The United States tax code is filled with loopholes, deductions, exemptions, credits, and preferential rates; such preferences are known as tax expenditures. Many economists, policymakers, and analysts believe it would help the economy to do away with some or all of those tax breaks to make the code more simple, efficient, and fair.

All told, JCT estimates that between 2016 and 2017 the total cost of all tax expenditures stayed roughly the same at $1.5 trillion. The total value of tax expenditures remains large in comparison to important government programs. For example, we spend more on tax expenditures than we do on Medicare and Defense combined. Because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act didn’t reduce the overall cost of tax expenditures, there is still an opportunity to simplify the tax code and reduce future deficits by examining remaining tax breaks.